excel

This MCP server exposes a suite of tools to manipulate Excel files via the MCP protocol. Built with TypeScript and ExcelJS, it supports reading, writing, formatting, analyzing, and transforming spreadsheets, including newer capabilities such as charts, pivot tables, and conditional formatting. Clients like Claude Desktop can invoke the 34 available Excel tools to automate data extraction, report generation, formatting, and data transformation workflows. You can also control response formats (JSON or Markdown) and configure behavior such as automatic backups and allowed directories for security.

To use the server, start it through your preferred Node.js runtime configuration, then connect via MCP endpoints exposed under the excel server. The server processes tool requests and returns structured results, including validation for inputs like cell addresses, ranges, and file paths. If you enable live editing features (when supported by the client and environment), changes can be reflected in open Excel instances or applied to files directly, depending on the platform and tooling configuration.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+ installed on your system
• Access to the project repository (clone or download the source)
• Optional: Claude Desktop installed if you plan to use the quick/manual integration steps described

Manual installation (from source):

1. Clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/sbraind/excel-mcp-server.git
cd excel-mcp-server
npm install

2. Build the project:

npm run build

3. Configure Claude Desktop to connect to the server. Add or update the MCP configuration file (examples shown in the README). Example for macOS/Linux:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["${__dirname}/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Note: When using the MCPB bundle or manual installation, use ${__dirname} which resolves to the server directory. If not using MCPB, you can also provide an absolute path like /path/to/excel-mcp-server/dist/index.js.

4. Restart Claude Desktop to pick up the new server configuration.

5. Verify the server is available in Claude and run a simple operation such as creating a new Excel file or loading a sample dataset to confirm connectivity and tool availability.

One-click installation (MCPB bundle): Download the latest excel-mcp-server.mcpb from the releases page, then either:

• Double-click the file, or
• Import via Claude Desktop extensions settings, then restart Claude. This bundle includes all dependencies and requires no separate Node.js installation or config edits.

Tips and common considerations:

• The server offers 34 Excel manipulation tools; leverage the default or per-tool response formats (JSON or Markdown) for ease of parsing by your MCP clients.
• You can enable createBackupByDefault to preserve originals before destructive edits. Configure this in the server's mcp configuration under the excel block.
• Use allowedDirectories to restrict access to certain paths for security; keep this empty only if you trust all sources.
• Inputs are validated with Zod; errors will provide actionable messages about invalid cell addresses, ranges, or missing parameters.
• Live editing (macOS) requires the environment to support real-time updates via AppleScript when the target Excel file is open; otherwise, edits fall back to file-based operations.
• When running in environments outside macOS, expect the live-editing features to be unavailable and rely on standard ExcelJS-based file edits.
• If you modify the config, restart Claude Desktop to apply changes. Ensure the dist/index.js path is correct after building.
• Refer to INSTALLATION.md and BUNDLE.md in the repository for in-depth troubleshooting and platform-specific guidance.